Some 500 years after Columbus first encountered cocoa beans, scientists are discovering new, wild cacao flavors in the Amazon rainforest. Turns out, we've barely begun to sample the many flavors nature has to offer.

The Amazon rainforest is less vulnerable to die off because of global warming than widely believed because the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide also acts as an airborne fertilizer, a study showed on Wednesday.

The boost to growth from CO2, the main gas from burning fossil fuels blamed for causing climate change, was likely to exceed damaging effects of rising temperatures this century such as drought, it said.

"I am no longer so worried about a catastrophic die-back due to CO2-induced climate change," Professor Peter Cox of the University of Exeter in England told Reuters of the study he led in the journal Nature. "In that sense it's good news."

S.D. The Amazon rainforest is less vulnerable to die off because of global warming than widely believed because the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide also acts as an airborne fertilizer.

S.D. The boost to growth from CO2, the main gas from burning fossil fuels blamed for causing climate change, was likely to exceed damaging effects of rising temperatures this century such as drought, it said.

A purring monkey, a vegetarian piranha and a flame-patterned lizard are among the most fascinating species to be discovered in the Amazon rainforest over the last four years. At least 441 species of plant and animal were found in the Amazon basin between 2010 and 2013. The flora and fauna has been catalogued by the World Wide Fund (WWF).

Countless insects and other invertebrates discovered that were not listed. The report was produced as part of an initiative run by WWF and Sky to help save the rainforests. I Love Amazon Week runs between 21 and 27 October 2013.

Damian Fleming, head of programmes for Brazil and the Amazon at WWF-UK, said: "The more scientists look, the more they find. With an average of two new species identified every week for the past four years, it's clear that the extraordinary Amazon remains one of the most important centres of global biodiversity."

The mammal discovered was a purring monkey. The Caqueta titi monkey is one of about 20 species of titi monkey, all of which live in the Amazon basin. It is already considered critically endangered.

Thomas Defler, one of the scientists who discovered the species, said the young Caqueta titi monkeys have a particularly endearing trait: "When they feel very content they purr towards each other."

The Gonatodes timidus lizard has flamed "warpaint" colouring and was found in the part of the Amazon that extends into Guyana. Despite their aggressive pigmentation, the species is very shy and avoids humans.

A frog the size of a thimble, an Allobates amissibilis, was found in an area set to be opened to tourists, raising concerns that the already endangered species could face further threat and "may be lost" due to human activity.

The vegetarian piranha found living in rocky rapids was named the Tometes camunani and is in danger of losing its main food source because of mining activity threatening the flow of its river home. "The richness of the Amazon's forests and freshwater habitats continues to amaze the world," Fleming said.

"But these same habitats are also under growing threat. The discovery of these new species reaffirms the importance of stepping-up commitments to conserve and sustainably manage the unique biodiversity and also the goods and services provided by the rainforests to the people and businesses of the region."

Ecuador has abandoned a pioneering conservation plan in the Amazon that attempted to raise funds from the international community instead of drilling for oil in a pristine corner of the Yasuni national park.

The collapse of the Yasuni ITT initiative is a devastating blow for activists who are trying to save one of the world's most biodiverse regions from development and pollution. It also kills climate campaigners' hopes that the Ecuador plan could provide a model for other nations to resist the lure of oil money and leave fossil fuels under the ground.

President Rafael Correa blamed the failure on the lack of foreign support, after a trust fund set up to manage the initiative received only $13m (£8.3m) in deposits, a tiny fraction of the $3.6bn goal.

"The world has failed us," Correa said in a televised address on Thursday night. "I have signed the executive decree for the liquidation of the Yasuni-ITT trust fund and with this, ended the initiative."

The president said the decision was one of the most difficult he had been forced to make since taking office, but preparations for a U-turn have long been under way and exploration is likely to begin within weeks.

Correa said it would affect less that 1% of the park, but the termination of the conservation initiative has stirred up fury among environmentalists and is likely to upset the population at large. Polls show that between 78% and 90% of Ecuadoreans are opposed to drilling in this sensitive region.

Amazon deforestation on the rise again in Brazil Deforestation in Brazil’s Amazon accelerated in June, with more than 300 square kilometers destroyed, a 17 percent increase over the previous month, government researchers said Tuesday.

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